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Looking for books on the meaning of life

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Looking for books on the meaning of life

jdclanc
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Posted 05/10/08 - 04:50 PM: Subject: Looking for books on the meaning of life	#1
I am an atheist who recently came to the conclusion that life is meaningless. I took a Philosophy 101 class in college, but we spent most of the time talking about the mind body problem. Anyways, I read a very short book about existentialism (oxford series), but it constantly referred to other philosophers without much explanation. I am going to read a short history of modern philosophy book, but in the mean time I want to read something directly dealing with my concerns. I thought about Nietszche or Satre, but they are kind of heavy. Can anyone recommend something? Maybe something that explains a philosopher rather than one of their direct works.

unenlightened
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Posted 05/10/08 - 05:17 PM:	#2
jdclanc wrote: I am an atheist who recently came to the conclusion that life is meaningless. I suspect that someone who agreed with you wouldn't bother to write a book. I sort of wonder what a conclusion is in a meaningless life. I'm going to recommend Zen and the Art of Motercycle Maintainance because it's a fine read and slightly oddball, but it will challenge your conclusion. My favourite book if you really want a challenge is The Ending of Time, by J Krishnamurti, but that is hardly philosophy at all, and even more oddball. If you want proper philosophers, start with Hume, and maybe a bit of Plato - existentialists are indeed heavy going. But a history is a good start too. Good hunting.
The observer is the observed. J Krishnamurti "Philosophy, to the Philistine, is an evolutionary process, watched over by some sort of brisk dynamic Providence, and culminating in the supreme insight of modern thought." John Cowper Powys

Fubaris
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Posted 05/10/08 - 06:36 PM:	#3
Viktor E. Frankl's "Man's Search For Meaning" was good I thought. First half was about his experiences during WWII in Nazi concentration camps, and the second half was about...man's search for meaning. So, you're right, objectively speaking there is no meaning to life. If you need "meaning", you're going to have to make it up yourself. But, there's no particular cause for concern. "Meaning" is overrated. The key thing is to keep yourself occupied and entertained while you wait for the sweet, sweet release of death to end your suffering. I find that nihilistic solipsism is helpful. You might look into Buddhism as well, to help with any anxiety you may be feeling. The first 3 Noble Truths in particular. However, ignore the 4th noble truth, and everything about reincarnation. Edited by Fubaris on 05/10/08 - 06:55 PM

jdrw
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Posted 05/10/08 - 06:52 PM:	#4
Camus's novels are easy reads. I think Zen and the Art of MM is sophomoric drivel. (Sorry, unenlightened.) Of course, if you're a sophomore, then maybe it'd be just right. (The right book is more a function of where your own thinking is at the time you happen to read it than it is of the book itself.) Concerns about the meaning of life or the meaninglessness of life are really concerns about purpose. Since there is no purpose provided by some external agent such as God, then what gives your life meaning are your own purposes. What do you want to do with your life--this day and in the long run? That is, what do you want the felt experience of your life to be for you this day and every day? Your purpose and meaning then is to do what it takes to bring about that experience in yourself. That felt experience is the meaning. Wanting more of that felt experience or wanting a different felt experience provides the purpose. Living out the process of the purpose is the meaning. That in the end none of it matters is as irrelevant as the fact that in the end the concert is over and the musicians go home. There is your life lived as your felt experience, and there is the concert while the musicians are playing. You might try reading Nietzsche's idea about Eternal Recurrence (as well as various interpretations of his meaning.) And read Lao Tsu and the Bhagavad Gita. Learn to do without doing and don't attach to outcomes. Cheers. jd Edited by jdrw on 05/10/08 - 06:56 PM
OTOH I might be exhaustively wrong about everything I've ever thought--with the possible exception of this sentence.

180 Proof
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Posted 05/10/08 - 11:48 PM:	#5
@ jdclanc: Straw Dogs by John Gray. Easy enough for the philosophical novice but has intellectual heft. Non-technical yet insightful. Written clearly, crisply and with dry wit. Topic: historical progress / civilizational (like "cosmic") purpose is delusional. Black Mass by John Gray. An even better follow up, and his latest. Mr. Gray takes atheism / secularism to task by arguing that "religion" (i.e. utopia-thinking) is both the root cause of political social and cultural troubles in modern times and the very condition which makes "civilization" possible: we can't live with gods or without them! Edited by 180 Proof on 06/07/08 - 09:25 AM. Reason: Changing delusions into illusions (aka "beer into piss") ...
If faith is irrational, then it is rational to dismiss "faith-based claims" out of hand. If faith is rational, then "faith-based claims" must be testable and/or sound -- but they are neither. If faith is a-rational, then "faith-based claims" are inexplicable and thus cannot explain anything.

Prime_Mover
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Posted 05/10/08 - 11:59 PM:	#6
I would simply recommend a short book called Tractatus Logico Philosophicus. Wittgenstein will take you on a journey through language; and when you reach your final destination, you'll realize that the statement "life is meaningless" itself is meaningless. In the end, the moral of the story is that you do not need an overly complex, utterly confusing metaphysical scheme to know that only you are in control of your life and your decisions. But with that said, I urge you to stay clear of any philosophical traps that young students often fall into: namely existentialism. I don't need any more college students, dressed in all black, working on their Macbooks in coffee shops, saying things like "this coffee is anti-quasi-establico-delicious!" and "my Mac is functional hyper-counter-spatial!". So please, if your philosophy class discusses the mind/body problem, please keep focused on that, not on contemplating a meaningless question. If you wish to continue in the world of philosophy, Wittgenstein's Tractatus is the best place to start.
The Promethean Movement http://www.promethea.org

mal4mac
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Posted 06/02/08 - 08:53 AM:	#7
You might also like Schopenhauer. Bryan Magee "Confessions of a Philosopher" is a great introduction to him, and there's a long account of Magee's own trip through the dark forest of meaninglessness. Wittgenstein's Tractatus is a difficult place to start. Magee gives some help there, because Wittgenstein was heavily influenced by Schopenhauer, and Magee made a special study of both of them.

Benkei
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Posted 06/02/08 - 01:03 PM:	#8
I would simply recommend a short book called Tractatus Logico Philosophicus. Wittgenstein will take you on a journey through language; and when you reach your final destination, you'll realize that the statement "life is meaningless" itself is meaningless. In the end, the moral of the story is that you do not need an overly complex, utterly confusing metaphysical scheme to know that only you are in control of your life and your decisions. Which is than offset with an overly simplistic and necessarily false model devoid of any reason but wishful thinking. Nice one. Life is not meaningless in the least. Only individualist - as they are mass-produced by Western society - are so self-absorbed and defunct in their thinking that they think they are a single pebble at the bottom of an ocean with no interaction to anything else at all. Only then would there be no meaning. Simply see how our relationships to everything, not only people - but really everything, define us every day, give direction and meaning from one second to the next. There's meaning by the busload out there. For example, the question "what is the meaning of my life?" already means two things 1) one you are aware of yourself as part of larger Reality and 2) you take your place in it seriously. Alternatively, live like 90% of the world and simply be to busy to ask the question. The source of the question is perhaps also worthwhile to consider as it is not solely a question for atheists. In my experience the question usually presents itself because there is an inherent dissonance between a person's experiential ranking of what he values with what society on average values. In the end the question is strongly related to "who am I?". In conclusion, forget about what other people wrote about it.
- How are you doing? - I'm doing good. - No, Superman is doing Good, you're doing well. You need to brush up on your grammar.

KGFox
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Posted 06/07/08 - 08:39 AM:	#9
You may want to google "secular humanism", and take a look. You'll at least see that many people find life very meaningful without God, and they're quite busy at it! Whether or not one believes in God, the meaning of life is the meaning one gives to it. That seems to be what the other posters are saying, as well.
"The last of the human freedoms is to choose one's attitudes."-Victor Frankl

ManiacJack
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Posted 06/07/08 - 09:22 AM:	#10
ZMM is a good counter argument, though it is in novel form and thus an easy read. The philosophy is far out, tho. I would suggest it to a beginner. Have you considered studying astronomy? It's like the athiest alternative to God.
Future Tense Passed Relief the Escapist wrote: Bullshit, self-deception, self-aggrandizement. Explains everything, really...

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